Drugs that are prescribed by a psychiatrist, and are used to treat mental and emotional disorders. The following are six main groups of psychiatric medications: Anxiolytics, antipsychotics, sedatives-hypnotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and antidepressants.

Drugs that act upon the central nervous system, altering brain functioning and leading to a change in mood and behavior.

The branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental and emotional disorders. Psychiatry relies on research from various fields, including psychology, neuroscience, medicine, biology, and pharmacology. Psychiatrists can order medical tests and prescribe pills, while simultaneously focusing on the doctor- patient relationship through the use of psychotherapy and other therapeutic techniques.

Comes from the Greek word “to talk about the soul,” psychology is a science that deals with mental processes and behavior. Psychologists study various fields, such as perception, cognition, emotion, personality, behavior, etc., and then apply this knowledge to aspects of the patient’s everyday life.

Internal responses caused by the application of a stressor, which disrupts the homeostasis of the individual. Personal responses to stress vary, including anxiety, depression, or adaptation.

Psychological techniques through which a person with immense anger can learn to reduce the trigger and degree of his/her anger. Various methods of anger management include meditation and deep breathing to relax, stress management skills, and optimistic thinking. A balanced approach to treating anger is the most effective, teaching the individual to control the anger and yet express the emotion in a healthy way.

A state in which the individual is easily excited, acts impulsively, and has a short attention span. Many individuals suffer from periods of hyperactivity, but when this behavior becomes problematic for the person or his/her surroundings then it can be classified as a disorder called “attention- deficit hyperactivity disorder”.

The sudden onset of anxiety, characterized by feelings of intense fear and apprehension. The physiological symptoms include heart palpitations, shortness of breath, sweating, and trembling. Many individuals that experience a panic attack for the first time feel as though they are having a nervous breakdown or heart attack. About 1 in 60 people in the United States will experience a panic disorder at one point in their lifetime.

Emotional state characterized by extreme sadness and dejection. A depressed mood is often temporary and should be differentiated from clinical depresion, which is a more serious and long- term illness that affects various aspects of the patient’s life. ​ Clinical depression can include a variety of symptoms, such as deep sadness, loss of interest in pleasurable activities, insomnia or oversleeping, irritability, and fatigue. Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism, guilt, worthlessness, and helpnessness often plague the individuals suffering from this disorder.

A person suffering from a persistent and disproportionate fear of an object or situation that presents little or no danger to the person. Phobias are the most common form of anxiety disorders, and affect between 8.7% and 18.1% of the American population.

There are three main categories of phobias: specific phobias, social phobias, and agoraphobia.

A type of anxiety disorder that includes an irrational fear of small enclosed places. People suffering from this disorder might often have a panic attack or fear of having a panic attack when they are in enclosed spaces, such as an elavator, train, aircraft, etc.

Persistent and disproportionate fear of an object or situation that presents little or no danger to the person. The individual then goes to great lengths to avoid encounters with the feared object.

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Phobias are the most common form of anxiety disorders, and affect between 8.7% and 18.1% of the American population

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There are three main categories of phobias: specific phobias, social phobias, and agoraphobia.

The person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which both of the following were present:

1. the person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat of the physical integrity of the self or others.

2. the person’s response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror.

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Either while experiencing or after experiencing the distressing event, the individual has three (or more) of the following dissociate symptoms:

1. Subjective sense of numbing, detachment, or absence of emotional responsiveness.

2. A reduction in awareness of his or her surroundings (e.g., “being in a daze”).

3. Sensation of changed reality or that one’s surroundings have altered.

4. Sensation of unreality concerning oneself or parts of oneself.

5. Inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma.

6. Recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of the event, including images, thoughts, or perceptions.

7. Recurrent distressing dreams of the event.

8. Acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring (including a sense of reliving the experience, illusions, hallucinations, and flashback episodes). These can occur on awakening or when intoxicated with drugs or alcohol.

9. Intense psychological distress and reactivity at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event.

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Persistent symptoms of increased arousal:

1. Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep.

2. Irritability or outbursts of anger.

3. Difficulty concentrating.

4. Hyper-vigilance.

5. Exaggerated startle response.

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The disturbance usually occurs within 4 weeks of the traumatic event.

Treatment of Acute Stress Disorder can be a challenge, since the stressors that initially led to the disorder continue to affect the individual, and are beyond his/her control.

Supportive psychotherapy and counseling are usually the most effective in treating acute stress disorder. When medications are needed, their use would depend on the symptoms present. In most cases, a short term use of tranquilizers and (or) sleeping aids is sufficient to get the person back to normal functioning.